Victor Bobrov

Painter, draughtsman, engraver, restorer, teacher. Elder brother of Alexei Bobrov. Born in the family of a merchant called Alexei Bobrov in the village of Gatobuzhi (Gotobuzhi) in St Petersburg Province (1849). Studied at the Fourth and Second Grammar Schools in St Petersburg (1850s) and under Timoleon Carl von Neff, Pyotr Shamshin, Pyotr Basin and Bogdan Gottfried Willewalde at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1860–67). Awarded a minor silver medal (1861) and major silver medals (1862, 1863). Member of the Pyotr Krestonostsev Artel of Artists (1864–65). Awarded the titles of third-class artist (1867) and first-class artist (1868). Academician (1873). Took up engraving after seeing etchings by Ivan Shishkin (1875). Painted watercolour portraits of pretty girls known as “female heads” which enjoyed great popularity in Russia and were published in magazines in large print runs (1880s). Worked as a draughtsman and engraver for the Imperial Stationery Office (1890–1901). Travelled abroad (1894). Died in Petrograd (1918). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1862). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1862), Society of Exhibitions of Works of Art, Society for the Encouragement of Artists (from 1876), Society of Russian Watercolourists (from 1882), Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1883, 1884), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1878), World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893) and St Petersburg: A Portrait of the City and its Citizens at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg (2003).